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At First Touch (First Touch Series, book 1) by Mattie Dunman
Genre: YA/Paranormal
ISBN:
9780615659725
ASIN: B00873W5ZA
Number of pages: 267
Word Count: 87,543
Cover Artist:
Deirdre Robertson
Synopsis
Liz Hannigan has been on the run since she was twelve
years old.
Her mother is dead. Her father has lost his job. And
thanks to an experimental procedure, Liz is now able to ‘download’ the contents
of every brain around her with a simple touch. Forced to hide from both the
federal government and a darkling group of morally deficient scientists known
as the Coalition determined to exploit her abilities, she moves with her father
to the bucolic coal town of Pound, West Virginia.
But the hunt for Liz and her abilities hasn’t ended,
and her hopes for peace are shattered when she inadvertently downloads the
enigmatic Carey Drake, whose unusual good looks and charm conceal a secret as
shocking as her own. Stunned by the knowledge that she has found someone else
who has extraordinary abilities, Liz finds herself drawn to Carey, discovering
a deep attraction, and dares to hope for the first time she might find love.
But when an agent of the Coalition begins stalking
her, Liz must find a way to work with the government agency she most mistrusts
as she strives to build a longed-for normal life and take down the agent who
has tracked her down. Caught up in a struggle to save herself and those she
loves, the girl who sees all is blind to true danger until it is too late.
Excerpt
I was out on the main road and about twenty minutes into my run when I heard the sound of a motor gunning and the beep of a horn. I slowed my pace and turned around to see Preston’s truck chugging along about two hundred yards behind me. His head was out of the window and he was screaming at me; I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I felt pretty confident that it wasn’t complimentary.
I came to a stop, wondering if I should do something. I wasn’t really concerned; it wasn’t as though he would run me over or anything, but the blind hatred on his face made me a little nervous. Finally, I decided to ignore him and let him get his fill of throwing abuse my way and then drive on past. Picking up the pace again, I resolutely faced forward, pretending that the continued screeching behind me was a trick of the wind.Suddenly the engine gave an almighty roar and I heard the unwelcome sound of squealing tires. With only a second to register that I had vastly underestimated Preston’s anger and mental instability, I swirled around in time to see the grille of the truck just a few feet from my face. I made to jump out of the way, but all my knowledge and stolen tricks didn’t make me fly, or move faster, or be any less breakable than any other human being. I knew in that moment how useless my ability really was. In the face of the giant metal monster brimming with torque, my mind was of no matter, it just screamed out with the desire to live, to keep going.There was a blow like a train hitting me, but strangely there was no pain, and I was moving faster than I could have imagined away from the truck and into the field next to the road. I was sure that the truck had hit me and I was just flying through the air to my death, by some fortunate stroke lucky enough to be spared the pain of impact. In another instant the movement had stopped and I realized I was being held in a pair of strong arms against a rock-hard chest.Carey looked down at me, his eyes frantic. “Are you alright? He didn’t hit you, did he?”
“N-no,” I stuttered. Having downloaded Carey I was aware of his incredible speed, but there’s something very different about knowing something theoretically and experiencing it firsthand.He put me down gently in the grass and I just sat there, too dumbfounded to speak. Even as he anxiously surveyed me for damage, we heard the rending scream of out of control tires and the heavy metal sound of Preston’s truck crashing into something.“I’ll be right back,” Carey said and then I blinked and he was gone.
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About the Author
Mattie Dunman is a lifelong
resident of "Wild & Wonderful" West Virginia, and has dreamed of
being a writer since she first held a pen in hand.
Mattie has pursued several
useless degrees to support this dream, and presently enjoys teaching (or
tormenting, as the case may be) college students the dying art of public
speaking. She spends most of her free time writing, but also indulges in
reading and traveling.
She is the proud owner of an
adorably insane American Eskimo named Finn, and a tyrant cat named Bella, who
take up more of her attention than they probably should.
Please visit Mattie's website
at www.mattiedunman.com
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